Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. It is my view that we all have to find our own path, and tweak our own ways form a variety of influences - and respect everyone else and their choices. For instance, my wife is a vegetarian, and so are most of my children. I do not eat vegetables at all. We respect each other's positions, and I feel the same way about other members here.

I have one snippet to add that has not been mentioned yet, and to show my lack of bias, it rather favours the vegetable-eaters, who hold very different views from mine. A study was done into "primitive" tribes in the third world, to try and discover traces of digestive disorders, such as diverticulitis, constipation, appendicitis, cancer of the colon, and so on. None were found. The tribes in question were consuming carbohydrate levels which, in industrial countries, was associated with exactly these digestive conditions. Further research showed that the difference turned out to be purely the amount of refining which was taking place with the carbs. Flour was rough-ground, and the husks and other outer layers were left in with the flour, thus retaining all the nutrients and vitamins which industrial refining removes, and of course, increasing the amount of fibre. The same was true of other cereal crops, which were winnowed by hand, and coarse-sieved.

The conclusion was that it is not the carbohydrates per se which were causing intestinal and digestive ailments (as well as obesity) in industrial societies, but the degree of refining. If only we could persuade refiners to go back a hundred years in their refining methods, we could all eat far more carbs than is safe for us now, and be much healthier for it. This, I think, may well support some of Vegiemax's earlist arguments.

However, Doreen is also right. The one thing we need more than anything else for healthy brain and central nervous system development is fatty acids. A study which deprived two volunteers of all dietary fat for a week had them frantic for fat, and exhibiting various signs of physical distress.

My final point is this, and it argues against the vegetarian way of life. There are certain vitamins which man needs, that he is not able to synthesise himself. The only way he can obtain them is by consuming organisms that have already manufactured these vitamins and enzyme chains themselves, that is to say animals which provide us with red meat.

Each person makes their own choice. I live with vegetarians, while they live with a carnivore. We accept each other's right to choose, and allow them to live by that decision. There is no harm in bringing new information to the other's attention and debating health implications, provided all parties are prepared to talk and listen with mutual respect in intelligent, respectful debate.

May peace, harmony and happiness be with you all, and may you all find your own effective solution to long-term eating.

Andy